Translation into English
A short Chinese passage into natural English, keeping every tense, negative and detail.
Learn
Translation into English, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know how the translation is set and marked
Both boards end the reading paper with a short Chinese passage to put into English. AQA's is Section B, worth 9 marks, with at least 35 characters at Foundation and 50 at Higher; it is marked by the pieces of meaning you carry across, a mark for each. Pearson Edexcel's is Section B too, worth 7 marks, marked on how fully the meaning of the passage comes across. The instructions are in English.
Read the whole passage first
Read it through for the overall sense before you write anything. Then take each sentence in turn: find who is doing what, then when and where.
Move time and place to where English wants them
Chinese puts when, where and with whom before the verb; English usually puts them after it. 我每天在学校吃午饭。 becomes I have lunch at school every day, and 我跟朋友去公园。 becomes I go to the park with my friend.
Choose the English tense from the clues
A Chinese verb never changes, so read the words around it. A past time word or 了 after the verb points to the past: 昨天我去了公园。 is I went to the park yesterday. 过 points to experience: 我去过中国。 is I have been to China. 要, 会 or 打算 with a future time word points to the future, and 在 or 正在 before a verb to something going on now.
Supply what English needs
English needs words that Chinese leaves out. Put back the I or we from the context, add a, an or the, and choose singular or plural: 我有两个哥哥。 is I have two older brothers. Measure words disappear in English, so 三本书 is simply three books.
Account for every word
Small words carry marks: 也 (also), 都 (all, both), 常常 (often), 有时候 (sometimes), 非常 (very) and 不太 (not very). Tick off each one as you translate it, and check you have added nothing.
Turn Chinese patterns into natural English
Some patterns need rebuilding. 我哥哥比我高。 is My brother is taller than me. 我的卧室没有你的那么大。 is My bedroom isn't as big as yours. 虽然……但是…… is although on its own, and 太贵了 is it's too expensive. Read your English back and make sure it sounds like something a person would say.
Handle the Higher structuresHigher only
At Higher, look for 一……就…… (as soon as), 不但……而且…… (not only… but also), 除了……以外 (apart from, or as well as), 越来越 (more and more) and 为了 (in order to), and for verb endings like 看不懂 (can't understand when reading) and 听懂 (understand when listening). Each one shapes the whole sentence, so translate it with care.
Translation into English key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Translation
- Carrying the meaning of a text into another language, accurately and naturally.
- Key message
- One piece of meaning in the passage. AQA gives a mark for each one you carry across into English.
- Measure word
- A word between a number and a noun, such as 本 in 三本书. English leaves it out.
- 了
- After a verb, it shows the action is completed, so the English is usually in the past.
- 过
- After a verb, it shows something has happened at some time: 我吃过饺子。 is I have eaten dumplings before.
- Time word
- A word like 昨天 or 明年 that tells you which English tense to use.
- Natural English
- English as a speaker would say it, not a word-for-word copy.
- Omission
- A word or detail left out of a translation, which can cost a mark.
Common mistakes in Translation into English
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Keeping the Chinese order, so 我跟朋友去了公园。 becomes I with my friend went to the park.
Find the verb first and build an English sentence around it: I went to the park with my friend.
Translating in the present when the sentence has 了 or a past time word.
了 after the verb and words like 昨天 or 上个星期 mean the past: 昨天我看了电影。 is I watched a film yesterday.
Turning a 比 sentence round, so 我哥哥比我高 becomes I am taller than my brother.
The person before 比 has more of the quality: My brother is taller than me.
Leaving out small words like 也, 都 or 常常.
Tick off each word as you translate it. Also, all and often are easy to drop, and each one can carry a mark.
Writing he or you when the writer means I.
Chinese leaves out the subject when it is clear. In a message, a diary or a blog it is usually the writer: I.